


new tricks

by logictron



Category: The Brave (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, team fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 02:16:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13626453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/logictron/pseuds/logictron
Summary: So, the team's scheduled to go home. Things are a little more complicated for certain members of the team.





	new tricks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shewhowritesworlds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewhowritesworlds/gifts).



> Here's a little fluffy birthday fic. :) Because I love Patton. No one gets left behind. Not even the dog.

"Okay, I gotta ask, what the hell are you doing?" McG asked, finding Jaz where she'd been almost every morning for the last week, with the dog and a wood pallet covered by a blanket, just outside of the Quonset hut.

"Watch." Jaz smiled without taking her attention off of the dog. "Patton, place."

The malinois obediently trotted over to the pallet, settling onto it with an expectant woof. Jaz obliged him, tossing him a piece of chicken.

"Okay, so you're...training Top's dog now?" McG asked, raising his brow. "This just to prove to him the dog is actually capable of listening to someone?"

Jaz snorted. "No. Look, we have no idea what happened before Patton ended up here. But we do know he freaks out in small spaces, right?"

McG recalled them trying to load the dog up to get him to the vet after the bombing. And trying to get him to stay in a crate at night so he'd stop sneaking into everyone's beds. Neither had gone well. "Yeah, so? How's this gonna help?"

"We're going home in, what,a few weeks? No one's gonna be here.You know it'll tear Top up to leave him behind." Jaz clucked her tongue and Patton trotted easily off the pallet, delicately taking another piece of chicken. "So, we're working on it."

"Okay, I get what you're saying but how's this gonna help?" McG gestured at the set up. "This isn't a closed space. This is...actually the opposite of that."

Jaz rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. Come on, I think we're ready for the next step anyway." She grabbed up the blanket and pocketed what was left of the chicken, making her way over to the picnic table.

Patton immediately leapt onto the tabletop, posing proudly, tail wagging and tongue lolling as he watched Jaz.

"Hey, hey! Manners," she scolded, folding the blanket and tucking it under the table.

With a dramatic sigh, the dog hopped down and she spared a second to rub his ears.

"Look at that, he actually listens," McG observed with an impressed chuckle.

"Dalton's too much of a pushover with him. He knows he can get away with it," she laughed. "Okay. Patton? You ready? Place."

The dog whined, taking a couple of steps back, eyeing Jaz and then looking in the direction of the pallet. McG opened his mouth to say something and Jaz shook her head slightly to silence him. Patton took a step toward the picnic table and she smiled. "Good boy..." she whispered.

Patton moved closer to the table, whining again before he crawled beneath it, settling gingerly onto the blanket.

Jaz cheered, offering the dog a handful of chicken, crouching in front of him. "I knew we could do it. Good boy, Patton."

"Okay, I have to admit, that was pretty impressive. How the hell did you learn how to do that?" McG asked, shaking his head.

"The French army has an explosives detection dog. I ran into the handler at the commissary a couple weeks back. She gave me some tips," she explained, releasing Patton from his position and getting to her feet again.

"Badass. So...now what?"

"Actually, I could use your help, so I'm glad you asked." Jaz grinned and knocked into his shoulder. "First, breakfast."

**

With McG's help, Jaz managed to procure a travel-ready crate and keep it out of Dalton's sight. That part was easier than sneaking the dog into her room to keep practicing. At one point, Amir found her coaxing the dog down the hall in the middle of the night,so she let him in on the secret, too. Having an extra conspirator was useful. And Amir was good at being inconspicuous.

Two days before everything hit the fan with Hoffman, Jaz decided it was time to bite the bullet.

"Okay, here's the deal. You're gonna spend the night in there, okay? We gotta make sure you can do that before we put you on the plane. I swear it'll be worth it. You gotta trust me, alright? I'll be right there." She pointed to her own bed and Patton made a flying leap onto it, flopping dramatically onto his side. Jaz couldn't help but laugh, but she stood her ground. "Place."

She couldn't help but feel proud when the dog immediately hopped off the bed and did as he was told, curling up in his crate. Tossing him a couple of treats, she closed the door and laid down, anticipating him getting anxious. But Patton slept silently through the night. Jaz, on the other hand, hardly slept at all.

"You look like hell," McG said in the morning as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Gee thanks," she muttered, glowering at him over the rim of her mug.

"I'm just saying is all. You can't fault me for the facts." He laughed as Patton materialized from the hallway, trotting in with a yawn before hopping up on the couch and falling back to sleep.

"Figures," Jaz sighed, shaking her head. "I'm gonna go for a run."

Exactly no one was surprised when Patton followed her out.

**

Getting the dog to the vet took all three of them. And they were almost in the clear when Preach materialized seemingly from nowhere.

"I think," he said, his gaze wandering from the humans to the dog and then settling back on Jaz. "That maybe I'll take Adam into town today. Need to pick up a few things for the girls."

Jaz smiled gratefully, not even pretending. "Thanks, yeah, I think he'll enjoy that."

McG snorted. "Adam? Enjoy shopping? Yeah, alright."

Jaz was about to elbow him but Amir did the job for her. "This is why you're the 'pretty friend'," he said, earning a cackle from Jaz.

"We'll be back for dinner," Preach said, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Don't get into too much trouble."

So now he knew.

**

With less than twelve hours before they received the call about a missing girl and a hacked submarine,Jaz finally decided to let Adam in on her surprise. She tucked all the necessary import paperwork into a folder and stuck a random bow on it that was left over from Christmas.

"Here," she said, handing it to him. She could barely contain her grin. "This is for you." 

Dalton looked from her to the folder and back again, confused.

"Just open it already," she huffed, impatient.

The confusion on Dalton's face only grew as he perused the paperwork. He reached the last page with the flight information before realization dawned.

"This...this is really, really nice,Jaz. But Patton's not the biggest fan of--"

"Come on, Top. Give me a little more credit than that."

On cue, Amir and McG brought in the crate and set it in the middle of the common area. Preach opened the door and Patton trotted in, tail wagging. Without any prompting at all, he went straight into the crate and laid down.

"Well, damn," Adam chuckled. "Look at that."

"Never leave anyone behind, right?" Jaz smiled as Dalton's arm slid around her shoulders, squeezing.

"You're something else, you know that?"

"Yeah, a decent dog trainer. Unlike you," Jaz teased, bumping her hip into him.

"Oh, ouch, low blow. But I know how to accept my weaknesses. Now what I really want to know is how the hell you pulled this off without me noticing," Dalton said, turning his attention to Amir and McGuire.

"Don't look at us, it was all her idea," Amir insisted. Beside him, McG nodded.

"Besides," McGuire added. "We weren't the only ones."

"You too?" Adam asked, arching his brow at Preach who merely shrugged, a smile playing at his lips. "Alright, well, thanks guys. All of you. What do you think, Patton? You ready to see the world?"

The dog barked and everyone laughed. It felt good, seeing her team happy. It was something she'd hold onto in the coming days. Something they all would. Because you didn't get through bad times without a little good. And they'd all learned that lesson by now. So Jaz committed this to memory: her guys, the dog, the way Adam's smile softened anytime he caught her eye. The calm before the inevitable storm.


End file.
